Ever Heard Of Karma?
by ruerox11
Summary: "Once, there was a young wizard who was a complete failure. He came from a long line of very powerful, very magical wizards. His parents were well-known Aurors. And he was practically a Squib." James snorted. "Bet he was a Puff." "He was a Gryffindor." Neville tries to teach James about bullying, and more importantly, karma, through the story of a Class-A loser from his past.


Neville Longbottom, beloved Herbology teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, looked down disapprovingly at the third year student sitting before him in his office.

"Why?" he asked simply.

James Sirius Potter refused to meet his teacher's eyes. Arms crossed tightly, he answered sullenly, "Why what?"

"Why do you insist on being so nasty to other students?" Neville elaborated.

James scowled. "Wasn't nasty. Just a bit of fun."

"James, Danny Potts is only a first year. Do you have any idea how much these pranks of yours, this 'bit of fun', can affect him?" his teacher replied angrily.

"Why do you care?" James demanded, sitting up straight to be face-to-face with his normally complacent professor. "He's just a dumb first year. And a Puff."

"Do _not_ insult the Hufflepuffs," Neville said tightly. "You have no idea how many great witches and wizards have come from Helga's house. Remember your hero, Teddy Lupin?"

James made a face that clearly said Teddy should not be a variable used against him in an argument.

"His mother, Nymphadora Tonks, was a Hufflepuff, and she was stronger and braver than all of us. The Hufflepuffs are _no_ laughing matter, James."

Belatedly, James remembered that Professor Longbottom's wife was a Hufflepuff. Damn.

"And, on that note," Neville said, his voice lightening, "neither are first years."

"But- but they can't _do_ anything!" James protested. "They're just a bunch of little runts."

"A first year will not always be a first year," Neville stated sagely. He sat back in his chair and studied the boy's face. Even now, he was starting to become the spitting image of his namesake.

Not James, however. Everyone knew that young Albus looked like Harry who looked like the first James Potter, this boy's grandfather. They were like an endless circle.

No, Harry Potter's eldest son had the same dark, curly hair, laughing eyes, and impenetrable cockiness as Sirius Black.

.

Neville, obviously, had not known James I or Sirius personally. But after the war, he and Harry had grown closer. They'd found similarities to the other that had been there all along, but were never noticed. Both had grown up without their parents, courtesy of Lord Voldemort. Both had had the expectations of so many on their chests- Neville of his whole family, waiting to see if he would end up as great as his parents, and Harry of the wizarding world.

Both had grown up much too fast.

Neville and Harry had talked. That's what they did most of the time, just… talked. About their pasts. The present. Their futures.

Neither of them would ever admit this to Ron, but Neville had been the first to know about Harry and Ginny's engagement. It was mostly coincidence, but it still made Neville feel special.

Harry had told Neville all about his parents. He had some amazing stories- some funny, some relatable, some tragic. Though he'd only met Remus, the Marauders and Lily quickly grew to be Neville's heroes. After his parents, of course.

There were only a few pictures of them together, when they were young, dug up from the depths of Sirius's room, but Neville had seen them. He knew the faces of Lily Evans, James Potter, and Sirius Black because they were engraved in his memory forever.

He'd written Harry how startled he was when he'd seen those three walk off the train toward him. He'd had to blink repeatedly and shake the image out of his head, because he could have sworn it was them and not Rose, Albus, and James.

He'd stayed very close with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione alike: they all wanted to know how school was _really_ going, and what their children weren't telling them. In a private letter to Harry he'd admitted what he'd seen that he wasn't sure he'd liked.

_James is starting to worry me_, he'd written. _I'm afraid there's a bit too much of his namesakes, both of them, in him._

He'd sworn he'd watch James from that moment on, because of all people, Neville knew how important it was that egos like his not grow too large.

.

"I really hope you'll stop this, James," Neville stated, breaking the silence. And then, dropping his voice a little for dramatic effect, he added, "For your own good."

James, of course, heard. "For my own good? What's that supposed to mean?"

His professor gazed at him piercingly. After a moment's silence, he said, "James, I'm going to tell you a story."

James seemed about to protest the telling of any dumb story, most likely a fable to make him realize that what he was doing was wrong or some claptrap like that. But Neville shot him such a look that he was silenced.

"I don't want any interruptions," Neville went on. "I want you to listen until I'm done. And I want you to think about what this means for you."

"Once, there was a young wizard who was a complete failure. He came from a long line of very powerful, very magical wizards and witches. Every one of them expected great things from him. His parents were exceptionally powerful and well-known Aurors."

James perked up at the mention of the Aurors.

"And he was practically a Squib."

Now James snorted. "Bet he was a Puff."

"He was a Gryffindor," Neville continued calmly. "From a long line of Gryffindors. Yet he couldn't manage simple spells. He failed countless tests. He could barely stand up a cauldron correctly."

"Loser," James muttered under his breath.

"He frustrated all of his teachers. No one knew what to do with him. They were sure he was some kind of Squib. He was picked on constantly in school. He had no friends. He was indeed, as you said, a loser."

"But then," Neville's voice grew somber, "Dark times fell upon Hogwarts. The Death Eaters had infiltrated the school. There was almost no one left fighting back. But that _loser_ rallied the troops. He kept hope alive in a school where there was none. People were vanishing left and right, going undercover, but not him. He stayed right where he belonged- at the head of an army. They tried to take out his family members, people he loved, because he was doing too much against them. They'd underestimated him. All of a sudden, he was a contender. He was not someone to be trusted. He was fighting back."

"James, do you understand what I mean?" Professor Longbottom asked, suddenly breaking out of his story.

"I'm… I'm not sure, sir," James answered honestly, puzzled by what his teacher was trying to get across.

"What I'm saying, James, is that the small, weak, first year student will not stay that way forever. He will grow and change. He will become someone important."

"And have you ever heard of karma, James?" The boy shook his head mutely. "Karma is the belief that what goes around comes around. You pick on someone, one day it'll come back to bite you. One day you might be looking for a job, but guess who isn't going to hire you because you were so mean to him in school?"

"Danny Potts," James muttered.

"Exactly. My point is, James, is that the little loser of a Hufflepuff won't always be a loser. Just like that loser of a Gryffindor wasn't always a loser."

James nodded slowly, new respect for Danny Potts growing inside him. His teacher saw the change in his eyes.

"Go," Neville said softly. "Go and apologize to Danny, and anyone else you might have hurt. Don't have people against you. It'll get you nowhere."

James nodded and rose from his chair. At the door, he turned to look back at his favorite teacher.

"Professor…" he began. Neville looked up expectantly. "Who was the boy, the Gryffindor? You said he was around at the time of the Death Eaters… is he still alive?"

"Of course," Professor Longbottom replied easily. "You've met him."

"Who…. Who is he?"

Neville smiled and said, "Me!"

**Just a random drabble idea that came to me. But did anyone else see the similarities between young Sirius from Snape's memories and James Sirius? They look scarily alike…**

**Anyway, yeah. Love it? Hate it? Review it? That'd be lovely.**

**-ruerox11**


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